Tonight, our guardian angel, Daiva and her husband, Arvydas, took us to see Anzeelika Cholina's (silent /c/) Dance Theatre from Vilnius perform Anna Karenina. It was described as modern ballet, as opposed to classical, and was her own choreography. The costumes were of the period of the story - long, beautifully draped gowns. The performance was amazing. Anna was spectacular. Her dancing in itself and her ability to express emotion with her body were breathtaking. I haven't been to the ballet all that often, and never to a modern one, but it seemed to include some elements from modern dance. I don't pretend to really know that, though.
I was fascinated by the use of straight chairs throughout the performance. The set was sparce, and they were brought on and off in clever ways. The dancers danced sitting in them, standing on them, balancing on them, stepping up and down on them, scootching across the stage in unison with them, etc. The scootching reminded me of the walker scene in THE PRODUCERS. At one point Anna used one to represent a cradle. The most touching use of the chairs is difficult to explain. Try to visualize the chairs, placed side by side in pairs, touching with one back facing one way and one the other. The chairs were placed at a very slight curve from downstage to upstage, and you saw a side view. Each pair was placed far enough apart for Anna to step up onto a chair, take a step, step down and then step up onto the next pair, etc. This gave the impression she was struggling up and down hills or uneven terrain in order to reach her son who was standing on a ledge upstage. It really did bring tears to my eyes.
Another wonderful day!
Oh, in case I hadn't realized it, I really am getting old. 'Cousin' Kasie, Sarah's friend who went to the beach with us for years, Facebooked that when she was at the firing range, a shell flew back and down her shirt front and burned her. I responded "Be careful, Annie Oakley!" Seems she had to Google Miss Annie, Oh, well.
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